In the days that followed, the assembled Allied fleet sent a large number of warplanes to the north, intending to detect the traces of the southbound American fleet. Seaplanes on battleships and cruisers were also dispatched, which not only filled the gaps, but also allowed the aircraft carriers to retain more carrier-based aircraft as a mobile force for the needs of the battle. Compared to the rough waters of the North Atlantic, this area near the Caribbean is uneventful: with the exception of the Bermuda Triangle, which is still shrouded in fog, the weather in the rest of the sea is mainly windy and sunny, and even seaplanes can be calmly retracted, which is especially suitable for the use of aviation power. For the German pilots, this friendly sea undoubtedly gave them a chance to show their strength; And flying a fighter plane in the blue sky and white clouds is also a refreshing trip in itself.

In the navigation room of the flagship Wilhelm the Great, a gray-haired Sher calmly waited for the reconnaissance plane's report to arrive. He was not at all worried that the US fleet's attack would be a false shot, intended to surprise the snake and accelerate the wear and tear of his naval aircraft overseas, which lacked ideal bases: The US Navy would never sit idly by while its own army and air force had already invaded the Caribbean islands, otherwise it would abandon the Pacific Ocean and the southern gate to the US mainland at the same time. If the Americans were really cowardly, then they could also command the fleet to sweep the Caribbean Sea: with the concentrated use of many carrier-based aircraft on the aircraft carrier, as well as the terror artillery group of the battlefleet, at least with the paratroopers and army units to occupy the whole of Dominica, there would be no pressure!

After a relentless search by a large number of fighters, on the morning of November 4, an Ar-196 seaplane finally spotted the figure of the American carrier-based fighter F6F in the northern waters 400 km away from the fleet. Although the slow Ar196 undoubtedly did not escape the pursuit of the other party. But before being shot down. However, the correspondent, who adhered to his duty, transmitted this vital information back to the mothership in the rear. Scheer immediately ordered the reconnaissance forces to concentrate on this area. Another nearby aircraft carrier battle group also sent reconnaissance planes to search: although the 14 aircraft carriers of the Allies were divided into two detachments, they were only separated by more than 100 kilometers from each other; Once one fleet is alert, the aircraft carriers in the other fleet can also send forces to support it at the first time.

At the same time that German seaplanes spotted the American carrier-based aircraft, the latter also transmitted the news of the encounter with the enemy back to Admiral Kim on the Essex. The same order came out of his mouth, and the four Wasp-class aircraft carriers immediately released a large number of F6F fighters to further look for the enemy. Because its flight deck is only more than 180 meters long, and its ability to release attack aircraft is extremely limited, this class of aircraft carriers with a standard displacement of 17,000 tons can only carry a large number of fighters and shoulder the task of searching for and establishing air umbrellas in naval and air combat.

At the same time, five large Essex-class aircraft carriers began to prepare their fighters on deck. Prepare for a preemptive surprise strike after determining the location of the opposing side. They are all new large fleet aircraft carriers built by the United States after the abrogation of the treaty, with a standard displacement of 27,200 tons; although their tonnage is in the same class as the two Yorktown classes in service in the Pacific Fleet, with a flight deck of more than 260 meters and a capacity of 91 aircraft, their aviation combat power is undoubtedly different from their misguided predecessors. After a tortuous exploration, the Americans finally realized the true value of aircraft carriers on the Essex class, but the treaty-type aircraft carriers that had been built before could no longer be changed to the same design ideas.

Due to the extremely fast flight speed of the fighters, even in the cruising state, they can rush and fly at a speed of nearly 400 lm/h, and only an hour later, the fighters of the two sides taking off from their respective aircraft carriers exchanged fire in the continuous extended reconnaissance. But. Since the primary goal of both sides was to discover the location of the opposing fleet, the air battle was not as intense as expected. Most of the German and American pilots did not choose to engage in a grappling with each other, but continued to reconnoiter ahead. At 11 a.m., a small group of German Ta-152 carrier-based fighters was the first to spot the American fleet in the sea below in the open and closed clouds; Although there were enemy fighters several times their size surrounding them, this did not change the joy of the German pilots at detecting the enemy fleet!

"Damn the Americans, they even learned to deploy a large number of fighters over the fleet to drive away the observers!" After receiving the telegram from his pilot, Scheer said with half joy and half anger. The Sams finally came out, but the trouble was that the fighter they sent to keep an eye on them was intercepted by the opponent's strong air interception, and they had to give up tracking the American fleet and choose to return. Since the opposing fleet is always moving, this makes it particularly important to keep an eye on the storage of aircraft, and if you can't grasp the real-time position of the opposing fleet, the attack planes you send will inevitably shoot into the air. And the aimless search of attack aircraft laden with bombs and torpedoes on the surface of the sea is undoubtedly a situation that every aircraft carrier commander should try to avoid!

After a moment of silence, Scheer ordered the fighter jets to be released again to investigate. However, given that the opposing fleet may have a strong air umbrella over it, Scheer wisely did not send a large number of fighters to fight the opponent in the air: this would not only waste a lot of aviation combat power, but also make the loss of pilots unacceptable. Since the place of the battle took place over the American fleet, American parachuted pilots could be rescued by destroyers, while German pilots could only be taken prisoner! Scheer's response was to have the fighters act in small groups in batches, taking advantage of their speed advantage to carry out the task of penetration-reconnaissance-return. At the same time, its own aircraft carriers continued to fly attack aircraft groups in a step-by-step manner, flying in a general direction towards the operational sea area. Whenever a squadron of fighters on a reconnaissance mission returned to the sea area where the enemy fleet was located, the attack group made a course correction according to the positions of both sides, and finally flew to the target in a path of several broken lines. In this way, the German fleet was able to save a lot of air forces while still ensuring effective guidance of attack aircraft groups.

The motors roared, the blades roared, and with the order of Scheer, the air team led by five Hindenburg-class aircraft carriers began to fly the fighters quickly. After more than two hours of adequate preparation, the German ground crew had deployed a full 14 rows of aviation on the 270-meter-long flight deck, which means that one aircraft carrier alone can release 56 aircraft in a single round. Next to the German Navy's most elite sea fortresses, the two Austro-Hungarian aircraft carriers were no slouch: 13 rows of fighters lined up on their rear decks and began to take to the air one by one with a deck wind of more than 30 knots. The two "Schwarzenberg" class aircraft carriers are modeled after the German Zeppelin class, and their carrier-based aircraft are also fully equipped with the German Navy's models. For Austria-Hungary, the most important satellite state, Germany has always been vigorously supporting its armed forces that can be used for its own purposes.

After 45 minutes, the first wave of attack from all seven aircraft carriers was released. In addition to the first squadron of fighters that carried out intermittent reconnaissance, the attack group still had a terrifying lineup of 372 aircraft. The fighters that advance are both the escort of the attack aircraft and their navigators; When a reconnaissance report comes from a colleague, the fighter will change course and guide the attack aircraft group in the rear to fine-tune it. And hundreds of kilometers away, 5 Zeppelin-class and 2 Italian aircraft carriers have also begun to release their attack forces one after another. Compared with the maturity of the Austro-Hungarian Air Force, which has always been on the side of Germany, the Italians are undoubtedly much younger, leading the trend of gunboat carriers until the early 30s, they began to really set foot in this field, and their two new "Anzio" class aircraft carriers are both in the aircraft carrier itself and the performance of carrier-based aircraft, there is a huge gap compared with the German counterpart. However, in the spirit of talking better than nothing, Scheer still kept it. Taking a step back, the Italians could at least help themselves share the firepower and thus increase their chances of defeating the enemy.

Since the U.S. fighter planes had also discovered their presence in previous reconnaissance, Scheer ordered the aircraft carrier to be reconditioned with its decks to defend itself against the incoming air raids. The fleet has also begun to maneuver to make it more difficult for the opposing fleet to detect its own fleet. All of them were proceeding in an orderly manner according to the procedures of naval and air combat, and Scheer had every reason to expect that his proud carrier-based aviation force would be able to create another miracle.

The sun was dazzling, the clouds were dancing, and at 13:07 in the afternoon, the German attack aircraft group took the lead in approaching the American fleet in several polygonal voyages. Since it took a lot of time for all the fighters to take off from the aircraft carrier, and because there were attack planes with full loads in the team this time, their flight speed was not the same as that of the fighters, so the arrival time of the German attack aircraft group was much later than that of the reconnaissance of the fighters alone. To the surprise of the commander of the German fighter group in charge of escorting the convoy, Ral, the other side sent a large number of fighters to intercept him. At present, the Ta-152 under his command escorting attack aircraft has 14 squadrons with a total of 168 aircraft, which is already based on the experience of fighting American carrier-based fighters in the last naval battle in the North Atlantic, and the ratio has been deliberately strengthened. And the large black and crushed enemy fleet that currently appeared in the distant sky is more than 200 planes, to say the least!

"Now it will only be up to us to see if the improved attack aircraft can withstand this wave of attacks." Lal gritted his teeth and said loudly in the intercom, "Fighter squadrons, prepare to meet the enemy!" (To be continued......)

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